Chapter Fourteen
“We’re waiting for Duke to pay for her. I don’t give a fuck what you wanted. I want my money,” Dawg said, yelling the words at Julie.
Holly watched the two go back and forth. Both were crazy. They’d taken her, and now they were arguing about what to do with her.
“She’s a fucking whore.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” Holly said, screaming at the entire room. She pressed a hand to her stinging cheek. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She was in so much pain, and it was all this bitch’s fault. From the moment she’d woken up in the back of the truck, she’d been in a nightmare. She’d been restrained and on the floor. When the back of the truck opened up, they covered her eyes as they dragged her into this fucking place. The moment they removed the blindfold, she saw Julie, and she knew she was fucked. She couldn’t believe Julie would be this fucking stupid.
“Shut up,” Dawg said, glaring at her. “You told me she would give me a big fucking payday.”
Julie smiled up at the large man. “She will. Duke will pay for the slut. You can use her as well. You can do whatever the hell you want with her.”
“No, you can’t,” Holly said, knowing Julie wanted them to rape her. The evil look in Julie’s eye couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. She was so pissed off and scared. Julie was high on drugs, and her associates looked even more high.
Dawg had already hit her for shouting at him. He didn’t like her yelling. Her lip was split, swollen, and hurting. When she got free, she wanted to kill Julie.
“You touch me and you’ve got no chance of surviving.”
“Ignore her, Dawg. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I do. I know what I’m talking about. Take her out of the picture and Duke will come back to me. I’ll give you all the money you want.” Julie tried to purr, but Dawg shrugged her off.
“Get the fuck away from me. Your pussy is washed up and old.”
Glancing around her, Holly glared at the floor.
Phil was on the floor, blood pooling from the gunshot wound. He’d tried to demand more money, blackmailing them with evidence he had on all of them. Holly’s heart was racing. There was no way she was coming out of this alive, and her thoughts didn’t improve when she stared at Phil. If he was dead, she didn’t stand a chance. These men were unstable. Their eyes were glazed over from the drugs they’d taken.
Glancing to her left she saw another man snorting some white powder. What the hell had Julie gotten herself into? This entire kidnapping was half-assed, and not thought out.
“You should take her, Dawg. Duke wouldn’t want her afterwards and you can use her in one of your clubs. She’d earn you a lot of money.”
Dawg grabbed Julie around the throat. “Don’t turn this into something personal. The only thing I’m interested in is money and this fucking deal.”
“Deal?” Holly asked. “You’re insane to have trusted her. Duke will never do a deal with you.”
“Shut your fucking mouth.” Dawg released Julie long enough to land another blow to her cheek. Holly saw stars as she stared at the cement floor. She didn’t have a clue where she was. “If Duke wants to see your fat ass again, he’ll do what I say.”
Pressing a hand to her cheek, she glanced up in time to see Julie smirking down at her. She hated that woman.
“Where’s Matthew?” Holly asked.
The smile left Julie’s face.
“You put him in danger you’ll be high on Duke’s kill list. Even if he can’t save me, you’re dead anyway.”
“Shut her up,” Julie said.
Holly cried out as she was kicked in the stomach. Gripping her stomach, Holly fought the tears that threatened to spill over. Pain slammed throughout the whole of her body. She needed to fight to give Duke time to find her.
“Call him,” Dawg said, glaring at Julie.
This was totally fucked up.
“What?” Julie asked, looking confused
“Call your old man. I want this deal done.”
Looking up she saw Dawg had a gun pointed at her head. Closing her eyes, Holly thought about Duke, Matthew, Mary, her parents, the club, all the people she loved and wouldn’t get the chance to say goodbye. She wouldn’t get to walk down the aisle to the man she loved.
Holding in a sob, she thought about Duke. His warm touch when he held her, caressed her. She would think about him, and death would be welcome.
“You don’t need to call me,” Duke said. “I’m already here.”
Opening her eyes, Holly cried out as bullets started flying. Someone threw their body over her, hiding her.
“Stay still, Holly.” Raoul growled the words into her ear, shielding her.
She didn’t allow herself to think about what was happening. The club had come for her.
Minutes passed, which felt like hours. Finally Raoul pulled her to her feet. Looking around the room, she saw all of Dawg’s Crew was dead. Pike was nursing an injury to his arm. What made her pause was the gun Duke had pointed at Julie’s head.
****
Duke stared at the woman who gave birth to his son. He was waiting for one thing and then this woman would be out of his life forever. She didn’t move as he had the gun pointed at her.
“Holly?”
Her hands wrapped around his waist. The scent of her surrounded him. Glancing down he saw the bruise on her face. They’d hurt her. Turning her head left and right, he looked into her eyes. “Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine.” She smiled up at him. “You came for me.”
“Always.”
“So you fucking claimed her as your old lady,” Julie said, sneering. “I should have known. You were always panting after her underage ass.”
Come on, Russ.
His cell phone rang. He released Holly long enough to grab his phone and answer the call.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He’s got a couple of bruises. I’m taking him to the hospital.”
“Good. Put him on.”
“Dad?” Matthew asked seconds later.
“It’s me.”
“Dad, I don’t want to ever see her again. I promise.”
“Get to the hospital. I’ll handle this shit.” He disconnected the call and glared at Julie.
“I’m sorry, Duke,” she said, sobbing.
He was unaffected by her tears. She’d put his woman in danger, hurt their son. Julie had used up all of her chances. He’d warned her, but she hadn’t listened.
“Would you really kill the mother of your son?” she asked. “I’ll get better. I’ll be better.”
“You’re right. I couldn’t kill the mother of my son, but I could kill the woman who put my family and the club in danger.” Without any remorse at all, Duke fired his gun. Julie fell to the floor with a single bullet hole through her forehead.
Holly turned her head against his cut.
“Can we go?”
“Yes.” Taking the lead, he made his way out of the warehouse, ordering his men to clean the shit up. “We’ve got to go to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Mary was run over. Your father’s taking my son there as well.” He cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look up at him. “I love you, Holly.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’m so sor—”
She stopped him from talking, pressing a finger to his lips. “No, you don’t need to say sorry to me. You weren’t the one responsible for Julie or Phil.”
He’d seen greed had killed Phil. Taking her hand, they headed toward the hospital with Pike following close behind them. Holly held onto his waist. When they climbed off the bike, he stopped her from entering.
“Why are you not freaking out on me?”
“Because they all deserved to be killed. I’m your old lady, Duke. I’m loyal to you and the club.” She went on her toes and kissed his cheek.
He’d just fallen in love with his woman all over again. She truly was a beauty.
****
Two days later
Mary looked toward the door expecting to see Holly. Her friend was supposed to be picking her up to take her home. When she saw Pike, she froze. She’d not seen him since that night when he took her virginity and torn out her heart. She’d never be good enough for him. His warnings had been read loud and clear.
“I thought Holly was coming to get me.” She was supposed to be staying at the ranch with Holly and Duke until her leg healed up. Besides a lot of bruising, her broken leg was all that remained from her trying to get Holly from the truck.
“She’s coming.”
“What are you doing here?” The sound of his voice broke her heart. She could pretend for so long that she wasn’t hurting, but the moment Pike entered her life, the pain returned. She was broken inside. There was no way to mend the pain. She’d tried. Mac had promised to take care of her while her leg healed up. She denied him. Mary didn’t want to lead the other man on. She wasn’t dating anyone.
“I wanted to come and see you, make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t want anything to be weird between us, Mary. Duke and Holly, they’re getting married. She’s his old lady. You’re going to be around the club because of her.”
“Do you want me to stop being her friend?” Mary asked. She wouldn’t do it, not even for Pike.
“No.”
“Good.” She stared down at her bag. The pain medication she’d been given could only do so much to dull the ache in her leg. There was no medication to numb the pain in her heart.
“I need you to know what I did was for your own good.”
Closing her eyes, she counted to ten in the hope he’d be gone. He wasn’t. Pike moved closer to her. Didn’t he know he was tearing her heart out and stamping on it?
“Please,” she said.
He stroked the back of her neck. His touch only acted as a reminder to what he had done to her all those weeks ago.
“Mary?”
Pulling out of his touch, she grabbed the crutches, placing them underneath her arms. “You don’t get to touch me, remember. I’m not old lady material, and the only thing you’d want me for was a cunt to lose yourself in. You can’t be faithful to me. Leave me alone, Pike. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Before he could say anything more Holly appeared in the doorway. She pasted a smile on her face, turning her back on Pike. If only she could turn her heart on him so easily.